London Area, United Kingdom
Dr. Amel Karboul is a globally recognised systems leader and institutional builder, former government minister, and founding CEO of EOF - a groundbreaking UN-hosted platform mobilising innovative finance and public policy to design and scale new financing models for education and employment outcomes. Across her career, Amel has specialised in building institutional platforms that align governments, investors, and organisations around shared outcomes. From advising CEOs on large-scale transformation to leading a national economic sector and founding a global outcomes fund, her work focuses on translating ambitious ideas into operational structures. She is particularly interested in how capital, policy, and institutional design can be combined to unlock new models for financing and delivering public goods at scale. Amel made history as Tunisia’s first female Minister of Tourism and the first woman to lead an economic ministry in the country’s history. Leading the sector during a period of national transition, she oversaw an industry representing more than 10% of GDP and helped stabilise and reposition it internationally, earning her the Presidential Citizens Medal (Commandeur de l’Ordre de la République Tunisienne). Her professional background spans engineering, strategy consulting at BCG, and advisory work with CEOs and executive teams of multinational corporations on strategy, transformation, and leadership. This experience shaped her approach to complex systems: combining analytical rigour with human insight to build institutions capable of delivering sustained change. Alongside her leadership work, Amel is an interdisciplinary artist and curator of human gatherings. Through Studio Amel, she works across painting, writing, installation, and the design of experiential spaces that foster connection, insight, and cultural reflection. Her artistic practice deepens rather than distracts from her leadership, sharpening her attentiveness to people, strengthening her ability to hold complexity, and expanding her creative range as a board contributor. She holds degrees from KIT (Mechanical Engineering), the London School of Economics (Certificate in Executive MPA), Oxford Brookes University (Doctorate in Coaching & Mentoring), and the University of Oxford (MBCT, with distinction). Amel speaks Arabic, French, English, and German and lives a global life grounded in her Mediterranean roots.
The Education Outcomes Fund (EOF) is an ambitious effort to significantly improve learning and employment outcomes by tying funding to measurable results. We bring together governments, philanthropy, investors, the private sector, and delivery partners to achieve concrete targets for learning, skill development, and employment through a partnership model. Using our global platform, we are scaling up results-based innovative financing in human capital to improve the effectiveness of spending and transform the lives of 10 million children and youth. Since our inception EOF has: • Launched and delivered the biggest outcomes funds in early childhood, education and skills to employment to date in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia on average 2,5 times oversubscribed by social investors. • Designed and implemented a 20% funding multiplier for girls, incentivising programs to close gender gaps, with results showing significant progress in girls closing achievement gaps. • Built partnerships between governments, philanthropic organizations, private capital, and civil society players including strategic collaborations with the UK Government, LEGO Foundation, and 27 other partners. • Successfully built and convened a high-level board comprised of heads of state, CEO’s, philanthropy leaders as well as civil society leaders and global education experts chaired by Sir Ronald Cohen. • Established EOF as a leading global player and the only dedicated center of expertise for Results Based Financing (RBF) in education featured in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, FT, Economist, Brookings etc. • Finalised our hosting at the United Nations, as the first outcomes Fund ever hosted at the UN. • Established a respected brand and changed the narrative around outcomes funding and how to transform developmental and social challenges into investable opportunities. • Selected Resident, Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center (2025)
Beyond my executive leadership roles, I contribute to global policy, technology and systems change through a portfolio of board and advisory positions. These engagements reflect my commitment to making sure bold ideas translate into action. 🌍 Global policy, governance and systems leadership • Education World Forum (Adviosry Board Member since Sep 2025) – Support the world’s largest annual gathering of education ministers in shaping future-focused agendas on education, skills and technology. • Global Tech Panel (Member, European Commission initiative) – Advised on ethical AI, digital governance and future skills in a rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape. • UNICEF Independent Task Force on Workplace Gender Discrimination and Harassment (Member, 2017–2018) – Helped shape institutional policies on workplace equity and gender inclusion. 🤖 AI, innovation and the future of work • Global AI Index (Founding Advisory Board Member) – Helped shape the first global assessment of national AI readiness, bringing together data on innovation, talent, infrastructure and governance. • World Economic Forum – Education 4.0 Alliance (Member) – Co-shaped strategies for integrating AI and digital transformation into learning systems and the future of work. 🔄 Education systems, delivery and reform • The Education Commission (Commissioner) – Contributed to the global investment case for education, working with world leaders and policymakers on financing solutions to expand opportunity for all. • DeliverEd (Co-Chair, High-Level Advisory Group) – Co-chaired a global research initiative on how governments use delivery approaches to implement education reforms across Ghana, Jordan, Pakistan, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. Helped develop a practical framework for delivery approaches. • Learning Generation Initiative (Learning Generation Champion) – Advanced the post–Education Commission agenda, with a focus on the education workforce, system delivery and school health and nutrition.
For more than two decades, I have curated transformative human gatherings across continents, creating spaces where people come together not just to speak, but to truly connect. My gatherings combine ritual, embodied intelligence, sensory design, storytelling, and silence to cultivate presence, trust, and emotional transformation. I design experiences that help individuals and groups move from surface conversation to deeper truth, insight, and collective meaning. This work sits at the intersection of art, leadership, and human development, and it now informs the relational dimension of Studio Amel. Examples of gatherings designed: – Cabinet retreats for government leaders – Artistic salons and narrative circles – Multi-day deep work with activists and entrepreneurs – Women’s leadership and resilience circles – Community healing rituals (including at Bellagio 2025) – Kitchen table rituals and intimate domestic gatherings – Corporate + philanthropic reflection spaces This is a long-running, evolving strand of my practice - now increasingly held as a form of social and relational art.
Appointed as SG to develop MEF into a think and do tank committed to renewing the region’s politics, prosperity, and purpose in the Digital Age with the vision to generate big ideas, bridge the gap between technology and policy, and curate broad public conversation as well as building a new generation of responsible leaders. Overseeing effort to build a strong and sustainable institution in a difficult and often hostile environment. • Appointed to the Audit and chaired NRC committee • Secured funding for all programmatic areas: employment, education, leadership and gender equality anchoring all action in the 2030 UN SDG’s. • Secured long term partnerships with government agencies (German foreign office, IDRC …) and leading foundations such as the BMW foundation & the Bosch Foundation among others. • Within the first year of transformation, MEF has been recognized by leading figures as a non-partisan platform convening and connecting leaders from public, private, civil society, academia and media sectors and thus creating a new type of cross sectoral dialogue and impact. • Partnered with a major regional foundation on the creation of a multidisciplinary civic and cultural space integrating arts residency, policy dialogue, and cross-sector convening. • Moved into a non-executive director role as per November 2017 after a successful onboarding of a new executive director as per original agreement with the board.